Monday, December 21, 2009

This fall I stumbled upon a recipe in a bunch of old magazine clippings my mom gave me that I found intriguing. The recipe calls for a basic sweet dough that is then used to make a Swedish Tea Wreath and a Cinnamon Whirl (cinnamon bread). As I love all recipes involving yeast so I set it aside to try out this holiday season.

I finally got around to the bread recipes this week and LOVE them! The basic dough is a gorgeous, sturdy dough and very simple to work with. It is hands down the best dough I've ever worked with. It baked up absolutely gorgeously and the cinnamon bread is spot on. I'm taking the Swedish Tea Wreath with me to a Christmas Party tonight and I can't wait to try it!

To make the basic dough, I put the flour and yeast in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer bowl and added the warmed wet liquids to it right in the bowl. I mixed the dough together and switched to the dough hook for 3 minutes to knead. I made the Swedish Tea Wreath the same day I made the basic dough (yesterday) and froze half of the dough for the Cinnamon Whirl, which I made the next day (today).

The recipes are from the 1972 December issue of Better Homes and Garden.

In large mixer bowl combine yeast and 2 1/2 cups of flour. In saucepan, heat together milk, sugar, shortening and salt, stirring constantly until shortening melts (115 to 120 degrees) [I used coconut oil which melts at 76 degrees]. Add warm liquid to dry ingredients. Beat at low speed with electric mixer for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly [I didn't need to scrape]. Beat for 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough [I used the paddle on my stand mixer]. Turn out on a lightly floured surface: knead till smooth and elastic about 8-10 minutes [I used a dough hook on my stand mixer for 3 minutes]. Shape into a ball; place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease entire surface. Cover and let rise until doubled about 1 1/4 hours. Divide the dough in half.

Roll dough to 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Cover with candied fruits and peels. Roll up in jelly-roll fashion. Shape in to circle, sealing ends together [I had a hard time sealing because of the butter]. Transfer to greased baking sheet [I rolled my dough out on my Silpat so I didn't have to transfer anything!]. Using kitchen shears, snip 2/3 of the way through the roll at 1 inch intervals. Turn each cut section on it side. Cover and let rise until almost double. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. While wreath is still warm, brush with Powdered Sugar Icing: Add enough light cream to 1 cup powdered sugar to make icing spreadable. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and dash salt.